Family
by Phil929
Summary: All Dawn wanted was a quiet family dinner. Contains young Ryan and Trey with a little bit of young Seth just not at the same time. A One Shot.


Family

Dawn walked into the living room. The TV was blaring with some cartoon her six year old was watching.

"Come on Trey, dinner!" She called and moved to turn off the TV.

"Mom!" He shouted annoyed

"Move it." She said taking no notice of her son.

Today the family would have a _family _dinner. Something that hadn't happened since Ryan was born.

"Where's Ryan?" she asked. To her annoyance Trey just shrugged and slouched down in his chair. She sighed and decided to find Ryan first and then deal with Trey later.

"Ryan!" She called. The thing about Ryan was that he was so quiet and it was hard to keep track of him. Unlike his brother he didn't ignore his mother's wishes or shout at her he just got on with things.

At three years old he already acted more grown up. She moved across the one storey house and checked all the rooms.

Finally in the last room she found him curled up on the floor asleep. His blonde hair sticking out from under a blanket.

Gently Dawn took hold of the blanket and took it off him revealing his sleeping form. It always amazed her how deeply he slept. She knelt on the floor and shook the small boy carefully.

At last two bright blue eyes were revealed under sleepy eyelids. Having been woken up it was clear Ryan wasn't happy. He sat up scowling and rubbed his eyes with a small chubby hand.

"Hey Ry, it's time to get up for dinner." She said clambering to her feet.

Without saying a word the small boy got to his feet swaying a little bit and clutched onto his mother's skirt.

"Come on, let's get Trey and sit at the table. Daddy's going to be home soon and then we can eat."

With that she picked him up and took him to the kitchen where she put him in his booster seat. Just as she was leaving the kitchen she caught sight of his face. He looked scared and was staring fixed at the ground his whole body tense.

"You okay Ryan?" She asked. He nodded in response but didn't look up. She wanted to see why he was so upset but she had another child to deal with- Trey.

After ten minutes of yelling at him to get into the kitchen she took a different approach and grabbed his arm. She lifted him kicking and screaming and brought him into the kitchen.

Confused by Trey's tantrum Ryan looked up inquisitively as they entered. Dawn grabbed the spare booster seat out of the cupboard and strapped Trey too it so he couldn't run off.

Finally realizing his fate, Trey silenced and stared placidly at his little brother making him squirm.

"Trey will you please stop that." Dawn demanded as she served up the dinner. "I wonder where your dad is, dinner will start to get cold if he doesn't come home soon."

Just as she said this however the front door flew open and Frank came in clearly aggravated.

Even from the other side of the room Dawn could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Hi honey you're just in time for dinner," She tried.

"Not hungry," He slurred as he entered the room walking into the table Ryan and Trey sat at watching their father with fear evident in their eyes.

This was the third time this week their father had come home completely pissed and it never ended well.

"What are you staring at?" He snarled glaring at his youngest child. Ryan immediately looked away and Dawn could see he was beginning to tremble.

Suddenly in one swift movement which caught Ryan completely off guard Frank grabbed Ryan by the arm and pulled him off his seat.

Ryan whimpered and crawled under the table. His father laughed and sent his foot in after him.

Dawn grabbed her husband's arm "Stop it! Please…" She begged trying to pull him away.

Frank slapped her across the face and she retreated across the room tears gliding down her cheeks as she watched his attention return to the terrified boy under the table. She put her hand on her aching cheek and tried to swipe the tears away.

xxx

Sandy laughed at his son's mucky face. The family had had ice cream for dinner and that of course meant that Seth had digested half of it and got the other half smeared all over his face.

Kirsten grabbed a napkin and began to try and wipe the mess off Seth's hands and he giggled wiggling them around so it was harder for his mother. Kirsten smiled and stood up scooping him into her arms.

"I'll be back in a second," She told Sandy walking out of the room to the bathroom.

Sandy chuckled and took a little sip of grape juice from his glass. He could hear Seth's giggles in the bathroom from here and Kirsten trying to get him to stay still.

Sandy got up and put all the dishes in the washing up bowl for him to wash. He was halfway through his washing when he heard the bathroom door open and Kirsten came in carrying a much cleaner Seth.

She put Seth down and watched as he settled down playing with his Superman doll. She grabbed a drying up towel and dried up the things that Sandy had washed.

They sunk into a conversation about Caleb and how he was trying anything to get the three of them to move back to Newport.

A loud bang made their attention snap back to Seth. A scream made its way out of his mouth and Sandy hurried over to him. A red mark showed up on the three year old's head and Sandy picked him up.

Kirsten came up and stroked Seth's little curls. He nuzzled his head into the crook of Sandy's elbow and Sandy could feel his shirt getting wet.

Sandy pulled his son out and looked at the growing bruise on his forehead.

"Look Seth, daddy's going to kiss it all better," He soothed leaning forward and gently kissing the bruise. Kirsten leaned forward and kissed there too.

"Does it feel any better?" Kirsten asked as Sandy rocked him a little. Seth nodded and sniffed.

"Shall we go and play with Superman in the living room?" Seth nodded eagerly brightening up at the fact he could play with his parents.

Sandy put him down and he grabbed Superman before hurrying into the living room. The parents left their washing up. They could always do it when Seth went to bed.

xxx

Dawn opened the door to their son's joint room and peered in. Trey was holding a bruised and bleeding Ryan who was sniffling slightly. His blue eyes watching her every move.

"Get out," Trey snarled. She felt a pang of fear and backed out of the room.

She entered the kitchen where her food lay uneaten. Most of it was scattered around the floor and the plate lay next to it broken and upside down.

The booster seat that she had forced Trey in earlier lay toppled over on the floor. She spotted a vodka bottle on the counter. It was the only thing not destroyed by her husband. She hated how he loved alcohol more than them.

She picked it up and felt like smashing it by throwing it across the room if he could destroy what she loved then she could destroy what he did. However something else nagged at her, she wanted to know what Frank and her father saw in it.

She needed to feel some comfort. Her sons hated her and she was beaten by her husband. She wanted to feel like she belonged, like she meant something to someone.

Dawn looked at it for a while. She would only have a little sip, no more. She wasn't going to be a repeat of her father.

She lifted it to her lips and took her very first dip.

The end.

Thanks for reading.


End file.
